A VERY ' FRESH' & SUNNY MANILVA ON MONDAY AT THE START OF THE WEEK.

MONDAY 8^th/ JUNE 2020.    “ STATE OF ALARM – DAY 86 “

I was up first this morning and left Brenda in bed for a little lie in, after freshening up I checked out the ‘E-Mail, Facebook ‘messages before catching up with the news of the day, reading the online newspapers ( Daily Mail etc ) and the ‘BBC News’ pages, at the same time listening to the ‘ Lockdown Party ‘ show on ‘Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ – this week’s ‘ Mystery Voce ‘ quiz came on, I got it straight away, it was the BBC TV presenter from ‘ Springwatch’ – ‘ Chris Packham’ – so I’m in the draw, again!

Last Friday !

The ‘ Council’ workmen came down out street washing down, the sound of the machine got Brenda up! I was on the breakfast rota, as usual on Monday morning, so had I ‘ Toasted Crispy Smoked Bacon Butty’ – smothered in ' HP' Brown sauce -  open on brown for Brenda – with some of her favourite sliced/seared Button Mushrooms, tossed in the bacon juices with a knob of butter, some of which ended up in my Butty, with mugs of hot/strong tea, to wash them down, at the start of ‘ Week 13’ in ‘ LOCKDOWN’ here in sunny Manilva!  

After breakfast Brenda ‘ masked/gloved’ up went around the small local Monday Market in the ‘Plaza Pozo del Rey ‘ – in the centre of the village – for some fresh fruit & vegetables, it’s next to the ‘Butchers’ - so she called and got some of his homemade ‘Burgers’ ( Pork, Beef & Chicken) as well as some ‘ Chicken Wings’ for another day, finally when she came back to the bottom of out street, she popped into our local small shop, as she had ordered some fresh ‘ Limes’ – which he got in especially for her! ‘ RESULT’

This morning the breeze has picked up, the sun was out first thing and the clouds have blown away and the sky is blue and clear, by lunchtime it’s due to reach, 23/24 degs+ - overnight down to 17/18 degs+ with warm sunshine and staying ‘ fresh’ – the rest of the week is going a little warmer, as the breeze drops, hovering in the mid/high ‘ teens’ – over the coming weekend going a little cooler as the wind picks up again, next week is now looking a lot warmer, with lots of hot sunshine, with just a few patchy clouds at times, with light breezes, back in the mid/high ‘ Teens’ – 28degs+ Watch this space.

Yesterday evening we made contact with Sandra & Bill, over in Everett, Ontario, Canada, a little later than normal as Sandra was working from home, on the ‘ Skype’ video link up, it was her ‘ lunch’ break, they are both very well and had enjoyed their weekend away up in ‘Hope Bay’ at the trailer, where Bill had built the very impressive ‘ decking’ – as you can see in the pictures below.

Today Sandra has an appointment, at the ‘Hospital’ with her Consultant, for a re-view/update re, her ongoing, ‘ Sciatic Nerve’ problems, to see what he’s going to recommend about work etc, we are going to message/call her later this evening to get a update on the results, watch this space. ‘ STAY SAFE WHEN YOU OUT & ABOUT ‘

“ CORANAVIRUS UPDATE – COVID 19 PANDEMIC “

Today is the start of ‘ Phase 3’ all over Andalusia, watch this space.

For our supper this evening we are having ‘ Chicken Empandas ‘ – not in pastry, but small  ‘Chicken Breasts’ ( from Suma!) – coated in savoury Garlic Breadcrumbs – shallow fried in Vegetable Oil – until cooked and crisp & golden, mine topped with a ‘ Campo’ Fried Egg, served with diamond-cut Runner Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Chips’

Tomorrow morning I’m making, with the help of the ‘ Second Chef’ – my now famous recipe/version of  ‘ Ensaladilla Rusa – Russian Salad’

We are planning to have our breakfast out on Friday morning as ‘ Bar Castillo ‘ is due to re-open ( 2nd attempt!) Watch this space.

Open for over 40 years!

Last night after supper we settled down to watch the final episode of this year’s series of the very exciting & gripping  “ Killing Eve “ with Sandra Oh in the title role and Jodie Comer as Villanelle, the assassin, all taking place in the centre of London, a junior assistant/assassin was beat up and thrown onto the live rails under a Tube train, the teacher/trainer- a senior/old assassin, was hit with golf club, then smothered by hand ( two different assassin?!) before her ‘ life support’ was switched off! The new head of ‘ MI5’ was shot between the eyes, by the old  lady head,  as he was a double agent, the Russian spy-master, who worked for all sides, as well as for himself, was let go/escaped to see his young daughter in a ‘Mental Hospital’ who had run and reversed over her mother’s lover!

Finally Eve & Villanelle met for the last time (?) on ‘Tower Bridge’ – to sort their lives out, will they or won’t they?!  Watch this space to see!

                                      “ STAY SAFE AND WELL INSIDE AT ALL TIMES “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A NOW WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 27^th/ MAY 2020.    “ STATE OF ALARM –DAY 74 “

After freshening up we had our regular fresh fruit of local (sliced Banana/Apricot) with toast & tea to start our day off in the right way, Brenda then ‘masked/gloved’ up and popped down to the ‘ Suma’ supermarket for some essential goods.

As usual, I retired upstairs to the office/studio to type/post today’s Blog, first checking the ‘E-Mails –Facebook’ messages, then reading all the news online, the ‘ Daily Mail – El Pais’(translated) etc, before checking out the ‘ BBC News’ page, as well as the local news on ‘ Manilva TV’ and the ‘ Councils’ web-page.

I  write up some crib-notes for the ‘Blog’ as well as bullet-points for the pictures etc, I then go to my ‘ Word’ pre-set page and type up the Blog, which is then saved, for my very able ‘ Assistant Producer’ – Brenda - to proof-read the text, next I open up the ‘ Blogger Posting’ page and copy/paste it, checking the typing/spacing at the same time, before posting it online, finally the pictures etc are posted on from various ‘ saved pages’ etc!

Today we still have a few clouds hanging around, despite a stiffer breeze, the blue sky is appearing slowly, so by lunchtime we will have the warm sunshine back, it’s forecast to only reach 22/23 degs+ - overnight down to 17 degs+ - the rest of the week and over the weekend is staying the same,  warm & sunny, hovering in the mid 20s, next week is now looking a lot hotter, as the breeze drops, going back up to the high 20s, with lots of sunshine everyday, by the following weekend reaching 29 degs+! Watch this space.

See below a pictures taken this morning and last week, showing the ‘ Salthouse Dock’ in Liverpool.

NB; Don't forget to ' Click-On' to all the pictures on the 'Blog' to enlarge and get the best views!

On the ‘ Councils’ web-page as well as on ‘ Manilva TV’ they announced yesterday evening that the ‘ Podiatry – Chiropodist’ services are resuming next week, sadly our Chiropodist ‘Carmen’ has retired, so I called the new number and have hopefully booked us in for next Wednesday afternoon, around at the local ‘Medical Centre/Surgery’! Watch this space.

PS; We have just been up the ‘Town Hall’ at 12 –noon, masked up, keeping ‘2m’ apart, as the ‘National Government’ up in Madrid, have called for a ‘ Minutes Silence’ all over Spain, to respect all the deaths. The Mayor, Mario, led all the Councillors, as well as Council workers and some locals, spot us on the right, after a little speech, followed by clapping after the silence.

“ CORANAVIRUS UPDATE – COVID 19 PANDEMIC “

The latest news update, from the ‘ Junta de Andaluicia’ is that the recorded contact cases, of ‘ Covid 19’  here in sunny Manilva has dropped to only ‘6’ ( Good News) - they are also asking the ‘ National Government’ up in Madrid, to bring Malaga, up to ‘Phase 2’ ASAP- to bring the province in-line with the rest of Spain, so for instance the ‘Bars’ could re-open serving inside also (50%) as well as outside on their terraces, including staying open, for the rest of the season, up to 3-00 am! ‘ Juan’ was preparing ‘ Bar Castillo’ yesterday afternoon, to be ready to open when it all happens, at the moment possibly next Monday, watch this space.

The Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, is proposing to ask the ‘ Congress/Parliament’ to consider/pass, the sixth extension to the ‘ State of Alarm’ up to the end of June.

This evening for our supper we are having, for a change, a local recipe of ‘ Chicken Empanadas ’ – not in ‘Short-Pastry’ – ‘ Breasts of Chicken (flattened a little) coated in savoury Garlic Crumbs ‘ – shallow-fried in Vegetable Oil, until crisp & golden, accompanied with a sharp ‘Piquant’ salsa, served with finely sliced ‘ French’ Green Beans and triple-cooked ‘ Chips’ – “ Spanish Chicken N’ Chips “!!

                            “ STAY SAFE AND SOUND INSIDE AT ALL TIMES “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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A VERY WARM & SUNNY MANILVA ON WEDNESDAY.

WEDNESDAY 6^th/ MAY 2020.   “ STATE OF ALARM – DAY 53 “ 

As we were getting up this morning, as usual, I turned on the ‘IT ‘ system in the office/studio, as we listen to the radio as we are getting freshened up, I noticed that Lyn was online on ‘Facebook’ over in Melbourne, so we called her on the video link up, which turned out to be a good time to talk to her, as she had had a bad start to her day, as her ‘ Sciatica’ was acting up and causing her some distress, she has called her Doctor and he has arranged an ‘ X-Ray’ at the Hospital, which she is not looking forward to, in case it’s her hip, so we had a nice chat and catch up with all her news, she is following us on the ‘Blog’ all the time, ‘ STAY SAFE & WELL INSIDE’ – keep your chin up, LOVE xxxx

As we were on the video link up the ‘ gas-bottle’ delivery man called and exchanged out bottle, which I had left out last night, so he would see it and call!  

At the same as were listening to the ‘ Lockdown Party’ show on ‘ Castle Radio FM 89.2 & Online on the WWW’ the ‘Mystery Voice’ came on, I got it at the second attempt, it was ‘Dannii’ Minogue not ‘Kylie’!

After our regular light breakfast of toast & tea, Brenda then  ‘ masked/gloved up and went for her walk around the bottom of the village, on the way back up she called into the ‘ Suma’ supermarket for a look-around/shop.

This afternoon I’m ‘ masking & gloving ‘ up and going back down to the ‘ Suma’ supermarket, after checking/turning over the car in the underground car park opposite, for the ‘ heavy’ stuff ( Wine etc !)

Meanwhile I made this evenings supper, a ‘ Ragout of Pork ‘ for a change, a ‘ light & rich’ casserole, with diced Onions, Shallots & Garlic, sweated off, with a dash of ‘Lea and Perrins & Tabasco’ and lots of Rosemary,  along with diced Red, Orange & Green Peppers and Baby Mushrooms ( tinned) before adding a rich ‘Chicken & Vegetable’ stock, then left to cook-off, after seasoning  to taste and adjusting the consistency, at the same time adding the lightly browned off diced Pork, that I had dusted in seasoned flour. Served with Baby Carrots & Garden Peas (mixed) and ‘Parsley New Potatoes’

We have another glorious day down here on the ‘ Costa De Sol ‘ – the sun was out first thing and the sky is cloudless and bright blue, there is slight breeze, so by lunchtime it’s going to reach 28 degs+ again, overnight down only to 17 degs+ - it’s fresh & pleasant in the hot sunshine, tomorrow and over the weekend it’s going a little cooler, as the breeze picks up, hovering in the low 20s, next week is now looking rather unsettled, as the next ‘ Atlantic ’ front comes in, bringing with it lots of the ‘ Wet-Stuff’ for all of the week, but still hovering in the low 20s, rather unseasonal for the time of the year, watch this space.

“ CORANAVIRUS UPDATE – COVID 19 PANDEMIC “ 

We are waiting to hear if the vote in the ‘ Spanish Congress-Parliament’ up in Madrid, today, which will decide whether to extend the ‘ State of Alarm’ for another 15 days from this Sunday, has been passed, it’s saying in the online “ El Pais” newspaper, that the Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has secured last-minute support from the opposition groups to prolong the emergency powers up to May 24^th – watch this space.

NB; If they don’t it will mean that on Sunday/Monday all the confinement orders/rules will no longer be legally binding, with all the measures introduced, would be dissolved, leaving the ban on travel and confinement open to all ?!   ‘ Fingers Crossed’ 

Yesterday evening just as we sat down to our supper little ' Miss Bella' came crashing in through the open front door, ' Leah' was out for a walk with her, after coming home form work in Gibraltar, along ' Calle Mar ' - as she passed the top of our street ' Bella' shot down and joined us! 'Leah' then came down and we had a nice chat and catch-up with her, as she sat on our front door step, with a glass of wine, as we finished our supper, a nice surprise at the end of the day.

                                    “ STAY SAFE & WELL INSIDE AT ALL TIMES ANYWAY “

Thoughts for the Day;  See above.

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